THE former Scotland defender has a foot in both camps after starting his career at Tannadice and ending it at Ibrox and wonders how Rangers will cope against the young Terrors this weekend.

Christian Dailly: "Most people seem to think if United play well they could win it convincingly but it doesn’t always work like that. Rangers will be dangerous, there’s no doubt about it."

CHRISTIAN DAILLY has praised Rangers for maintaining standards off the pitch but reckons Dundee United can expose the poverty of their position on it.

The former Scotland defender has a foot in both camps after starting his career in Scottish football at Tannadice and ending it at Ibrox.

Dailly, now 40, will be an analyst for Sky Sports at Ibrox on Saturday when the two clubs go head to head in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

The contrast in their fortunes could not be greater with United flying high under Jackie McNamara and earning rave reviews for the performance of talented kids such as Ryan Gauld, John Souttar and Stuart Armstrong.

Rangers may have won League One at a canter but boss Ally McCoist is under mounting pressure after recent poor displays and defeat to Raith Rovers in the Ramsdens Cup Final.

Dailly is tipping his boyhood favourites United to win through to the Final where he reckons they are most likely to face Aberdeen.

He has enormous respect for Rangers after spending 18 months at Ibrox under Walter Smith from 2008.

However, he openly wonders how their players will cope with the step up in standard after a season of performing against part-timers.

Dailly said: “There’s a lot of class about Rangers. They’re brilliant when you go there and brilliant when you leave. They keep in touch and you’re welcome through the door any time. There are fantastic people involved at the club.

“However, I do think United will win this weekend – and possibly Aberdeen. Still, I find Saturday’s game difficult to say and it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out. I’m not sure Rangers are sure how to gauge where they are either.

“When you’re not playing every single week against other full-time players then it’s difficult to know where you are. It’s an interesting contrast between the two teams with United up and coming and Rangers having been away from it for a bit – and on the back of that bad result.

“There’s an interesting dynamic about the game in general and I’m looking forward to seeing how that unfolds.

“Most people seem to think if United play well they could win it convincingly but it doesn’t always work like that. Rangers will be dangerous, there’s no doubt about it.”

Dailly played at Rangers for a season and a half and won an SPL title, two Scottish Cup winner’s medals, a League Cup badge and was also on the bench for the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester.

They have been operating under much reduced circumstances since their descent into financial crisis in 2012 but the fans’ demands have not changed – as the catcalls at Easter Road highlighted.

Dailly said: “You play for Rangers, you have to win every game. There are no excuses and I don’t think they’ll have any. They lost the Ramsdens Cup Final because they didn’t play well enough.

“The other week West Ham beat Hull 2-1 and were booed off. If the fans aren’t happy with what they’re seeing that is understandable.

“But Coisty knows the score. Rangers expect a win against United. The whole place is built around winning. It was one of the things I really liked from my time at Ibrox. It was a good experience to be in an environment where you were expected to win every week. I’ve been at clubs where the model is simply to stay in the league. You’re not trying to win, your system is built around surviving.

“I just wanted to win so going to Rangers was great. You knew you always had to overlap your full-back, even if you were 1-0 up in the last minute. There was no safety first.

“You had to go for that second goal and Rangers will still carry that attitude and it’s why they’ve won so many games this year.”

Dailly recalled the 1995-96 season, when United were in a similar position to Gers after relegation.

He said: “We played in the old First Division and some of our performances were terrible. One of the worst games was a 1-0 defeat at Dumbarton.

“We lost a Challenge Cup Final to Stenhousemuir when we were expected to win. We were terrible. It can happen but you come through it.”

United are flourishing now and Dailly, one of many successful youth team players developed by Jim McLean and his staff, is impressed with the class of 2014.

He said: “It’s exciting they have this crop of young players coming through but keeping them might be tough.

“There will be no safety net at Ibrox, they’ve got to express themselves in front of 50,000 people and United are good at encouraging that. This is a chance to show what they’ve got.”